Sports

Celebrating The CARIFTA Spirit

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – This year, both CARIFTA Aquatics and Athletics will be hosted in the same location, making it fitting for Team Bahamas to come together and celebrate each other before taking on the region’s best.

Published

8 months ago

April 16, 2025

10th Year Seniors, Sasha Lightbourne

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – CARIFTA Teams Head to Trinidad and Tobago with High Hopes

This year, both CARIFTA Aquatics and Athletics will be hosted in the same location, making it fitting for Team Bahamas to come together and celebrate each other before taking on the region’s best.

The teams were treated to a spirited pep rally on Thursday at the Andre Rodgers National Stadium, ahead of this weekend’s competition in Trinidad and Tobago.

Bahamas Aquatics will be fielding a 36-member team as they chase their seventh consecutive championship title, while the track and field team, comprised of 78 athletes, looks to improve on last year’s second-place finish behind perennial champions, Jamaica. This year’s athletics squad features a record number of qualifiers.

Friday marked travel day for the CARIFTA Aquatics team, as well as for Our News’ Sasha Lightbourne, Timothy Bain, and Raychard Ferguson, who are covering the event on the ground in Trinidad and Tobago.

By now, the team has arrived safely and is gearing up to begin their quest for another CARIFTA swimming title. But not before holding one final tapered practice led by Head Coach Travano McPhee at the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatics Center. The athletes then made their way to the airport for their 138-seat Bahamasair charter flight.

After five grueling weeks of intense training, the team is fired up and ready to compete. Coaches also emphasize the importance of maintaining the athletes’ health and fitness heading into competition.

The team is expected to have a light practice on Friday before competition officially begins on Saturday, April 19th, 2025.

Buddy Hield, Warriors Clinch Playoff Spot

It took 83 games, but Buddy Hield and the Golden State Warriors have finally secured a playoff spot and are now looking ahead to the opening round.

The Warriors held off the Memphis Grizzlies in a close 121–116 battle on Wednesday night during the first game of the Western Conference play-in tournament at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

Hield contributed 2 points in just 12 minutes off the bench.

With the win, Golden State claims the seventh seed and will now face the Houston Rockets in a best-of-seven first-round series, beginning Sunday in Houston.

Throughout the regular season, Hield had varying roles in three matchups against the Rockets, ranging from starting to playing limited minutes. He’s averaged 14.7 points per game on 43 percent shooting from three in those contests.